Jockey Punches Filly in Head

Tramore, Ireland – Jockey Davy Russell’s quick fists have earned him a 4 day suspension. Russel punched the horse he was riding, Kings Dolly, in the back of the head, and social media pressure is the only thing that got him caught.

Kings Dolly pulled up at a pre-race show hurdle, and in retaliation Russel punched her. He was originally given a caution for his actions, but due to intense social media pressure, Josh Byrne, registrar of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, used his powers to override what he considered to be an excessively lenient decision and gave Russel a 4 day suspension.

Russel claims he only slapped the filly. “At that stage she was out of control and I felt that if I had to continue in that vein during the race I would have had a very difficult time trying to control her in the race,” Russell said in an interview that At The Races shared on Twitter. “I felt I needed do something just to let her know there was someone on her back and a slap on the soft of the neck I felt was the appropriate action.”

He also claims the media is ruining his life and his children’s life over the incident. “What the press have done is unacceptable. Not just to me, but to my family as well. My family are involved as well. They were mentioned in articles along the way. It is not just me any more. I have a wife and children. One of those children is 13 years of age. She knows what is going on. She’s at secondary school at the moment and she has to deal with this as well. I’m a father as well as a horseman, and I’m a normal human being.”

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